MTA Plans Service Increase For 2 & 7 Lines
Riders on the 
& 
will be happy to know that MTA NYC Transit plans on increasing service. Here are the details via the press release I received:
MTA New York City Transit plans to increase scheduled service on two subway lines in fall 2016, with major additions proposed for the entire length of the 2 line reflecting substantial ridership growth during weekends. The increased service on the 2 line includes a total of 31 extra round trips on Saturdays and 18 additional round trips on Sundays.
As ridership continues to soar, it becomes more challenging to provide service while doing the necessary work to keep the system in a state of good repair. Despite those challenges and in response to increased ridership demand, NYC Transit evaluated weekend service patterns to find opportunities for increasing trip frequency while accommodating ongoing capital work and critical maintenance work.
The 2 line, which shares many stops in the Bronx and Brooklyn with the 5 line, stood out during times when maintenance work is required on the 5 line. The 5 line does not operate during weekends in Brooklyn. During maintenance work on the 5 line, the 2 line provides the only subway service for northern Bronx neighborhoods such as Williams Bridge, Baychester and Wakefield. In addition, nearly every station served by the 2 line saw increased ridership in 2015 with the most significant at the E 180 St Station, which saw a 13.6 percent jump.
“We always want to better serve our customers by strengthening service whenever we have sustainable resources to do so, but we also must balance providing that service with the critical maintenance work we need to run trains safely,” said MTA NYC Transit President Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim. Our biggest challenge now is juggling our record ridership demand all week long while maintaining a system that stays open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The additional 7 service is proposed on weekday evenings, prior to the start of construction-related service diversions, and when car and track capacity constraints do not preclude increased service frequency on the line.
The schedule changes proposed are as follows:
• Saturday 2 service will be increased a total of 31 round trips between approximately 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• Sunday 2 service will be increased a total of 18 round trips between approximately 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
• Weekday evening 7 service will be increased a total of 2 round trips between approximately 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Implementation of the following service additions begin in fall 2016, and depends on crew and schedule changes that will be finalized in the coming months. NYC Transit may also need to reduce service periodically to accommodate ongoing capital and maintenance work. NYC Transit plans to monitor service after changes are implemented and re-evaluate if needed.
The cost of these changes is $2.5 million annually and has been included in the 2016 operating budget. Service on the 2 line also will be increased during peak and evening hours in June 2016 by a total of five additional round trips, as part of a package of service additions approved in fall 2015.
I think this is a fantastic idea by the agency as I have noticed a lot more riders on the 2 during the weekend over the last year or so compared to before & that time still showed a lot of packed trains throughout the day.
While the agency is usually much maligned, they should be given credit for noticing an increased pattern & doing something to help with it.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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